First things first, why would anyone choose to paint their lid. Well, most people are individuals who are different from all others, so why not have a helmet like no other? Speaks for itself. And of course you get to choose the design, instead of some brain dead nugget who does nothing else bar look at four walls all day, and lacks any form of artistic intellect, or life for that matter. And if you want a quality Race Rep the manufacturer screws the arse out of yer wallet! And the other thing is, old lids that fit well can get a second lease of life.

So that said where do we start? First look at the things to avoid if buying a new lid. If it's your old one unlucky you 'll. just have to lump it. Many lids such as a Simpsons have the air vents on the inside, easy to mask over, where some vents are on the outside, not so easy. If you just paint over them they look shit, can't be used properly, and the paint invariably chips off. So select a design that uses the same colour as the vents so painting them isn't needed. Also a lid with a design on will nearly always need flatting back to remove it, as many are stickers and will show through the new paint work in the form of ridges if just painted over. So a plain lid is always best, white if possible. Bell, Simpson, Aria, Shoei, to name a few all do basic white lids.

Start by removing the visor, and all retaining screws clips etc., I always tape the small bits to the visor so I don't loose the little f*ckers, small they are cheap they ain't. And in some cases difficult to replace.

Now, nothing looks worse than a lid that’s been masked up around the rubbers, amateur isn't in it. If yer gonna do it, do it right. All the rubbers need to come off, this allows the paint and lacquer to be sealed off around the edges, once finished, and prevents peeling and avoids any ridges and over spray at the edges. So, take yer time and slowly remove them, It takes me about an 10/15 mins or so to totally strip a lid, and I've done a few, about another thirty minutes for the first timer is fair enough. Those lid's with the large band of plastic coated sponge type shit around the base, can be peeled back from the top edge and masked up, so when finished will fold back up to cover the top coat of lacquer. If it does tear or go tits up in another way new ones can often be bought, if in doubt check first with the supplier, but easy does it, and that won't be needed.

Next, the lining. Best to remove it as always. Most cheek pads will come away dead easy, but the Polly inner takes a little more tact. Generally I slip a thin flat blade (our lasses icing knife is ideal) between the liner and the lid and work it around. Thus breaking any glued bonds, generally only one or two blobs of glue are used on the liners, some don’t use any glue at all, with the blade still in position, pinch the liner between the blade and fingers and pull to free it. This is easiest done at the back, once you can get a good grip on the lining work it around till it pops out! On occasion they can be a real twat to remove. So if you decide on leaving it in, put a plastic bag inside the lid and tuck all the edges of the bag between the liner and the lid, and tape in position. However, beware that as painting begins any paint on the bag may flake off when the airbrush hits it, and could stick to fresh paint on the lid, so constant replacement may be required. Plan one is best.

The lid should now be ready to paint, with a new lid flatting back the surface to remove the shine, often leaves a surface suitable for immediate painting, but if any doubt exists a suitable primer must be used.

And once primed, flat it back again to remove any orange peel effect or particles of over spray, to leave a perfectly smooth finish. If you don't flat it smooth the paint will only echo the peel effect, and shag all your hard work. I prefer to use cellulose paint and seldom use any other, although that’s at your discretion, whatever system you choose stick with it. As mixing acrylics with celly with poly's, etc., can cause a disaster and unless you' re used to what is compatible with what, mixing systems should be avoided like an "MZ".

Whilst on the paint subject, don't even consider spray cans. I don't intend going into details, but for this application, Tis now’t but uncontrollable shit in a tin, (nuff said).

On with the technical stuff.

A Mask, not only something you wear whilst robin’ banks, but also an invaluable addition to the painting pallet. OK, so you've all heard of masking tape, fine, but a mask is basically anything that comes between the support (that’s yer helmet) and the medium ( that’s the paint). And it can be used to create different effects. Now this bit can get seriously involved, and although the sadistic side of me say's bore 'em shitless, I'll narrow it down to the basics, the rest is trial and error on your own behalf.

There are basically two types of masking, hard & loose.

Hard masking is where the mask is placed on the lid, such as tape, low tac acetate, or a masking fluid of some sort. This gives a very crisp sharp line where the paint hits it. The draw back is all the cutting needs to be done on the lid once the mask is in place. This may not sound to bad, but it takes practice to only cut through the mask, and not the helmet. If you cut to deep the laceration will fill with paint, and cannot be covered as it just goes darker & darker the more you try, and leaves a nasty scratch mark on the surface once the mask is removed. Most of your painting will involve hard masking at some stage, to control the paint. So top tip, keep your scalpel blade proper sharp all the time, and by very lightly moving it around your drawing it should cut deep enough to pass through the mask without cutting the surface below, with very little pressure applied to the blade.

Loose masking, is where the desired shape is cut from card or paper, or other material, and held above the surface of the helmet, whilst paint is either sprayed through it or along the edge, to produce a softer edge.

Combining the two techniques creates some cool effects, with a little practice, for example put a strip of tape on the lid & fix one end down, and allow the other to curl away. Spray along the line, to get a sharp line that fade's to nothing. Spraying paint through net curtaining patterns or fruit sacks can create many other interesting designs; even feathers & cotton wool add great effects. Over laying pin striping and removing a layer at a time creates awesome line designs. Paint sprayed at stock consistency (no thinners) gives a cobweb result first time dead easy & looks good. Just piss about with different stuff and see what you come up with. There are literally loads of techniques that can be applied, just study the design you like and figure out the best way to achieve it using masks.

Finishing off

Now that you’ve finished your artwork, a good coat of lacquer is required to seal it. Many people have a different idea as to how this should be done, so I’ll just give my approach. Lacquer is supposed to be a living organism that moves? Beats me, but I am told it does. So if one coat is applied, allowed to dry, and a second coat applied. The two may move in differing directions. This causes minute fractures at the joining surface of the separate coats. That’s why some finishes go dull in time. However if you try to complete the job with one thick coat, chances are it will run or sag. So this is how I get around it.

Apply one very light coat, to provide a surface for the next coat to adhere to. Allow this to flash off for about 5 or 6 minutes, then apply a second coat, but don’t aim for a shiny finish just yet. This second coat needs to be left to stand for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until just and so tacky but not dry. Now apply a further third coat, this time aim to get a shine or wet look to the applied lacquer. Be careful not to overdo it, by applying to much lacquer, but the surface should be able to support a fair amount of lacquer at this stage.